IAS Officer Suhas Lalikere Ytiradja won bronze medal in badminton at Para Games

Indian athletes demonstrated outstanding results at the Asian Para Games on Thursday, winning two gold medals. In shooting, the team of Shital Devi and Toman Kumar won the team tournament in mixed archery, while Suvarna Raj won gold in the women's F54 discus throw discipline.

Furthermore, Swati Chaudhary achieved a historic feat by bringing India its first medal in the W1 shooting category, although she had to settle for silver in the final due to a loss.

The highly ranked pair Shital Devi and Toman Kumar won the gold medal in the mixed team final, defeating the Indonesian pair with a score of 151-148. Prior to this, the Indian pair set a world record in the qualification round.

During the final, the Indian archers demonstrated brilliant shots from the beginning. In the first round, India gained a small advantage of 38-37. After the second round, the team's lead reached 77-73, and the Indian athletes maintained their dominance, winning the match by three points.

Shital Devi, who was born without arms, controls a composite bow with her feet and releases arrows using her shoulder and jaw to draw the string.

Indian Suvarna Raj won the gold medal in the women's F54 discus throw competition, achieving the best throw of 15.66 meters. The 44-year-old resident of Greater Noida threw the discus further than 15 meters four times out of six attempts.

She secured first place on the fifth attempt, reaching a distance of 15.66 meters. Silver was won by Shala Hadidi from Iran with a throw of 15.45 meters, and bronze by Ngoc Thuy Nguyen from Vietnam with a result of 14.65 meters.

The F54 category is intended for athletes whose trunk and lower limb functionality is impaired. In this category, competitions are held seated in a throwing chair, and throws are performed mainly using upper body strength and arm movement. Restrictions on trunk control also affect throwing technique.

Indian shooter Swati Chaudhary achieved a historic achievement by winning the silver medal in the individual W1 category for women. She became the first athlete to bring India a medal in this category at the Asian Para Games in shooting.

However, in the final, she faced a defeat with a score of 4-6 against Sen Mengkan from China. Highly ranked Swati initially took a lead of 4-2, but the Chinese archer managed to brilliantly recover, showing a consistently high level of play and winning the gold medal.

Swati, who trains at the Gurukul Shooting Academy in Merat under the guidance of Olympian Atens Satvedev Prasad, demonstrated a serious challenge in the final. Nevertheless, in the last two rounds, the Chinese player turned the tide of the match, leaving Swati with a silver medal, which was still a major achievement for Indian para-shooting.

At the Asian Para Games, Indian para-athlete Nishad Kumar set a historic record by winning his second gold medal during the tournament. This makes him the third Indian to win two gold medals in a single games. Furthermore, the Indian team demonstrated complete dominance in men's discus throw, securing all three podium spots.

Nishad Kumar won the men's high jump in category T47 with a jump of 2.04 meters, which also set a new games record. Previously, on Monday, he won gold in the men's long jump in category T47.

Previously, at the Asian Para Games held in Hangzhou, Ankur Dama won two golds in the T11 5000 meters and T11 1500 meters disciplines. Archer Shital Devi, who was born without arms, received gold medals in the open class individual archery and open class mixed team archery competitions.

Para-athletes in category T47 are athletes with impairments in the upper limbs. When Nishad was only six years old, his right arm was amputated in a field in Ambe, Himachal Pradesh, while working with a lawnmower. Despite this, he has achieved recognition in the sports world.

India also showed outstanding results in men's discus throw in category F44/64, winning all three medals. Devendra Kumar took gold by throwing the implement 49.71 meters. Rakesh won silver, and Pradip Kumar won bronze.

Four athletes participated in this discipline, and the Indian athletes took all three awards. Athletes in category F44 have lower limb impairments and compete without prosthetics, while athletes in category F64 use prosthetics.

Indian visually impaired judokas demonstrated outstanding results at the Asian Para Games on Monday, winning two medal prizes. Kokila won the silver medal in the women's J2 category at 52 kg, while Kapil Parmar received the bronze medal in the men's J1 category at 70 kg.

Kokila, from the village of Kasun in the Jind district of Haryana state, faced defeat in the final against Kyrgyz player Aibike Ulanbek Kyeji. The Kyrgyz athlete won the gold medal by scoring an ippon in just 21 seconds. In judo, an ippon is the highest score, which immediately ends the match.

Kapil Parmar, who previously won a silver medal at the Asian Para Games, arrived at this tournament hoping for gold. However, he lost in the semi-finals to the Indonesian team representative, Junedi, with a score of 0-1. After that, he played in the bronze medal match against another Indonesian athlete, Ahanafa Rafli Shidki, defeating him with a score of 1-0. Kapil achieved this victory through an ippon, and the match lasted just over a minute.

After receiving the medal, Kapil was disappointed. He stated: 'I came here intending to win gold, but I had to settle for bronze. Today fate was not on my side regarding gold, but I am grateful for this bronze. I worked very hard, and this is my first medal after a long time.'

This award holds great emotional significance for Kapil, as his mother has been feeling unwell recently. It is worth noting that Kapil had previously won a bronze medal at the Beijing Paralympics in 2024, and also won a gold medal at the Condominium Championship in 2019.

Before the final, Kokila went through the semi-final, where she defeated Chinese athlete Li Liu with a score of 1-0, thus securing her place in the final match. In this bout, she earned one waza-ari and one yuko, while her Chinese opponent managed to score only one waza-ari.

Previously, at the 2023 Asian Para Games, Kokila won a bronze medal in the women's 48 kg category. This time, she won silver in the 52 kg category. Furthermore, she represented India at the Beijing Paralympics in 2024. Additionally, this year she has won several medals at various international competitions, including a silver medal at the Judo Grand Prix held in Astana.

In judo, there are J1 and J2 categories for athletes with visual impairments. The J1 category includes athletes who may be completely blind, whereas players in the J2 category retain some functional vision compared to J1 players.